Release data: Unique – Movie without Pictures CD, Nocturne Records, 1998 “Movie without Pictures” is the second album the German brothers Andre and Frank Standke. Again, the two musicians offer an original kind of instrumental electronic music, which is cinematic and unpredictable in fashion. This time, the music relies a bit more on rhythmic structures although there’s still enough room…
Release data: Paul Ellis – Dark Machine Generation DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 With “Dark Machine Generation”, US-synthesist Paul Ellis brings us a full ambient trip made up of one continuous track, which initially began as an experiment in manipulating sound. To quote Paul on the making of the album: “it also really has no melody or harmony to speak…
Release data: Claudio Merlini – The Colours of Music CD, AD Music, 2010 Claudio Merlini is an Italian synthesist who released his debut album “Flight of Fantasy” in 2008 using the moniker Sound Experience. The contemporary instrumental music contained on “The Colours of Music” takes the easy-going road despite the interesting gear list. This doesn’t mean the album is filled…
Release data: The Amnis Initiative – Distant Dreams DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The Amnis Initiative (which aims to excite the imagination, stir emotions and stimulate the brain with evocative, yet soothing instrumental music) is a one-man project by Dennis Lodewijks, an Eindhoven-based musician and huge Vangelis fan whose album “Distant Dreams” is his full-length debut. “Distant Dreams” is a…
Release data: Edward Rizo – Soundscapes Volume One DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 This album comprises the first ambient excursions by Edward Rizo. From the start, there’s a desolate veil hanging over Rizo’s slow morphing textural dronescapes, as they drift and curl along in smooth elegancy. The gradual ebb and flow of the synth washes on each track creates an…
Release data: Max Corbacho – Deep Time DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, ad21 music, 2010 With the album “Deep Time”, Spanish sound designer and musician Max Corbacho invites us to travel far back in time with a textural work, made up of an assortment of “primal sounds next to an almost palpable sense of the first formings of Order from the chaotic soup…
Release data: Altus & TRX – Crossroads DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 The album “Crossroads” fulfills a wish Mike Carss (aka Altus) had for years: to compose a beat-oriented album in the style as he wrote them in the 90s, but he hadn’t done so as he considered his beat programming was always lack-luster. Through the internet, he got to…
Release data: Solar Fields – Origin #01 CD, Ultimae Records, 2010 With “Origin #1”, Solar Fields aka Magnus Birgersson brings us the first chapter in a series of four albums, of which all music is derived from his studio archive of the last ten years. The release (which comes in a two parts digifile, a kind of budget cd-release) takes…
Release data: Australis – Sentient Genus CD, Essential Noises, 2010 Toward the end of 2010, Oscar Aguayo brings us his third release, “Sentient Genus”, of which the composer mentions in the press sheet it explores some of humanity’s many levels of existance. It’s already at the start of the album that one clearly hears this is another very nice instrumental…
Release data: Steve Roach & Brian Parnham – The Desert Inbetween CD, Projekt Records, 2011 Both Steve Roach and Brian Parnham are known for years as purveyors of the sound of deserts and expansive, remote places. As the press sheet explains, the album draws inspiration from the stark and magnificent expanses of the desert southwest. While expressing a longing for…
Release data: Walter Christian Rothe – Alice DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1987/2010 This “definitive” edition of “Alice” is again due to the kind help and huge efforts of an electronic music enthusiast and collector from Down Under. Not only did he invest lots of time to sort out the best quality of pieces and the correct track titles, he also…
Release data: Mank – Awen DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Manky Music, 2010 “Awen” (a Welsh word for “poetic inspiration”) was released on March 1st 2010, and sees Ben Powell (aka Mank) deliver another fine work of inspired ambient electronic music. As Ben explains on his website, Mank’s 10th release was inspired by characters from the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh folk tales…
Release data: Howard Ferré – Journey’s End CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With “Journey’s End”, South-Florida based neo-classical/new age composer and sound designer Howard Ferré brings us his debut album. In the past 25 years, Mr Ferré has produced music for theatre, but he always had the desire to bring his own music to a new level, which has now crystallized…
Release data: Schiller – Die Einlassmusik 6 CD, Sleepingroom Musik, 2010 This album contains the 52-minute instrumental music Christopher von Deylen especially composed to entertain the waiting audience during the “Atemlos” tour in Spring 2010. The instrumental music starts out as a nice quiet and atmospheric soundscape in the first three parts, made up of warm textural tapestries without rhythm.…
Release data: Dan Pound – Aurora CD-R, Pound Sounds, 2010 Mr Pounds keeps up a steady tempo of releasing music, as this is his third one in 2010. “Aurora” is a cosmic ambient album containing nine atmospheres, which is not as textural as one might expect. Dan’s aural landscape are expansive but also rather active in nature. This recording dips…
Release data: Apollonius & 33 Tetragammon – Core DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Resonating Earth, 2010 “Core” is the fourth release by the Dutch duo Apollonius (aka Eelke van Hoof, previously known as Human Metronome) and 33 Tetragammon (aka Wasili Papadopoulos). Were their other albums already pretty introspective, the 70-minute sonic content of “Core” should take the listener on a trip along the…
Release data: Juta Takahashi – Silence CD, Lunisolar Records, 2010 Fans of calming and immersive textural ambient will find lots of their liking in the music of Jutaro Takahashi. On his release “Silence”, Juta has further improved the quality of his soft soaring and slowly morphing ambient soundscapes. Not only has the sonic outcome of the four tracks a dreamy…
Release data: Schiller – Lichtblick (Ltd. Super Deluxe Edition) DVD & CD, Universal Domestic, 2010 In Spring of 2010, Christopher von Deylen (aka Schiller) released “Atemlos”, the follow-up to his highly succesful album “Sehnsucht” (“Desire”). Like most of his previous audio releases, “Atemlos” had to be performed live on stage, so a tour through Germany followed. This was of course…
Release data: Herion – Out and About CD, Hypnos Recordings, 2010 “Out and About” is the debut release of the Italian trio Herion, and at the same time also marks the first release in digipak format on the Hypnos label. The members of the ambient-glitch project Herion are Emanuele Errante (composer of the peculiar album “Humus” on Evan Bartholomew’s Somnia…
Release data: Axess – Fusion CD, Spheric Music, 2010 On “Fusion”, German synthesist Axel Stupplich (who many will also know as member of Pyramid Peak) continues his quest of composing energetic and exciting Berlin School inspired music. Nonetheless, the music featured on this new chapter has a stronger emphasis on sequencers, while Axel keeps a close eye on creating vibrant…
Release data: Odyssey & Remote Spaces – Ypsilon Project CD, Generator.pl, 2010 The music on this album is made by Tomasz Pauszek (aka Odyssey) and the duo Konrad Jakrzewski & Krysztof Rzeznicki (aka Remote Spaces), of which I heard more years in the previous years. The outcome which makes up “Ypsilon Project” was composed during live sessions by the three…
Release data: Boreal Taiga – Isopectic Isotac CD-R, Wayfarer Records, 2010 Ambient musician JimDe, who currently resides in Norway, is the ambient musician who initiated the down-tempo project Boreal Taiga around 1999. The electronic music found on “Isopectic Isotac” is graced with a nice sense of wonder, as it draws its inspiration from the expansive and remote Arctic region and…
Release data: Przemysław Rudź – Self-Replicating Intelligent Spawn CD, Generator.Pl, 2010 Przemysław Rudź album “Self-Replicating Intelligent Spawn” is the final chapter of a trilogy (which started with “Summa Technologiae“), which tells the story of mankind in the 21st century. The instrumental music has maintained the high-tech, futuristic and melodic character of the previous albums that graced the previous releases, leading…
Release data: Dreamstate – A Decade Dreaming CD-R, e-Space Editions, 2010 The Canadian duo ScotM2 (aka Scott McGregor Moore) and Jamie Todd, aka Dreamstate, are purveyors of deep ambient music. “A decade dreaming” is a collection of live pieces selected from 10 years of performances at the Ambient PiNG EM-festival. As it is a retrospective recording, The twelve pieces include…
Release data: Kenneth John Parsons – Tribute to Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris CD, Private Release, 2010 Kenneth John Parsons is a UK-based audio creator/composer who started his own little indie record label Inexplicata Music to release his music under the motto: drawn from life, the ether and the imagination. The 13 tracks found on “Tribute to Andrei Tarkovsy’s Solaris” (“Electronic Atmospheres…
Release data: The Nexion Project – Land of Dreams CD, Private Release, 2000/2010 The Nexion Project is Zoltán Török, a Hungarian composer who’s a skilled guitarist and pianist. Until now, he has released several works in different genres ranging from dance music to electro-acoustic, chill-out and ambient. Originally, “Land of Dreams” was finished in March of 2000, but the composer…
Release data: Jerome Froese –Preventive Medicine EP, Moonpop, 2010 ““Preventive Medicine” is a 4-track EP which is meant to be a follow-up to the 2007 release “Precooked Munchies”. The opening piece “Inner Canon Of The Yellow Emperor” (Stimulant), which has a strong progrock feel, is taken from Jerome’s forthcoming third studio album “Far Side Of The Face” (on which Johannes…
Release data: Asura – 360 CD, Ultimae Records, 2011 Asura is a one-man project by Charles Farewell who continues his quest in the genre of down-tempo electronics with his fourth album “360”. The typical Asura-style is almost immediately present, blending worldmusic influences with captivating melodic lines and nicely moulded textural pads while lots of great samples sounds also pass by.…
Release data: Delerium – Epiphany DVD, MVD Visual, 2010 “Bill Leeb’s project Delirium finally sees a dvd-release which features a vibrant and fresh sounding live performance which surely will please a lot of fans of the band worldwide, as it finally enables to catch them in the flesh on stage. According to the press-release, “Epiphany” captures the ethereal essence of…
Release data: Ron Boots & Synth.nl – Refuge en Verre CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 The foundation of the music heard on this release was laid down as Ron Boots and Michel van Osenbruggen (aka Synth.nl) and their families had a nice weekend out in the Belgian Ardennes in a rented house, of which the latter also became the name of…
Release data: Food for Fantasy – Fresh Food CD, Spheric Music, 2010 As there was no possibility to continue the Double Fantasy, Robert Schroeder decided to continue the project on his own using the Food for Fantasy moniker. I missed out on the 2006 (“The Secret of Dreamin’”) and 2008 (“Fruits of Fantasy”) releases, but the press sheet coming with…
Tripswitch is a down-tempo project by English composer Nick Brennan. The press sheet revealed “Geometry” is the long-awaited follow-up of his 2005-release “Circuit Breaker”. “Geometry” offers fresh, overall moody, airy and above all intricate electronic compositions with a great flow. There are occasional bits of lush guitars while the second track “Concentric Circles” (the highlight for me on the album)…
Release data: Harald Grosskopf – Synthesist 2010 CD, Mellowjet Records, 2010 The year 1980 saw the release of Harald’s classic recording “Synthesist”, of which especially the title track gained a lot of attention within the Em-scene due to the fact it was used as the tune for Winfried Trenkler’s EM-radio show “Schwingungen”. Now, 20 years later, this album is re-released…
Release data: Darshan Ambient – A Day within Days CD, Lotuspike/Spotted Peccary, 2010 I’ve been following the music of Michael Allison, aka Darshan Ambient, since he started out making sophisticated textural soundscape music under the Darshan moniker around 1998 or so. “A Day within Days” is a concept album dealing with friendship, loss and the artistic spirit, which Michael dedicated…
Release data: Broekhuis, Keller & Schönwälder – In Repelen CD & DVD, Manikin Records, 2010 “Repelen” is the first dvd from the trio Broekhuis/Keller/Schönwälder, which sees them perform in familiar location, the Church in the German village Repelen where they played several times previously. For the occasion, they also invited several guest musicians such as Raughi Ebert, Eva and Thomas…
Release data: Andrew Forrest – Essence CD, Private Release, 2010 With “Essence”, New-Zealand composer and visual artist Andrew Forrest brings us another chapter for “inner journeying to multi-dimensional realities” as he likes to call it. From the start, the subtle evolving and mesmerizing space music of “Essence” is evoking this grand out-there feel, masterfully presented in four seamlessly merged and…
Release data: Vanderson – Echoes Of Darkness CD-R, SynG@te, 2007 Vanderson is a project of Polish musician Maciej Wierzchowski. The four lengthy tracks on this release sound like a homage to TD’s sequencer-infused music and sound of the ‘80s, as it nicely blends catchy sequencer patterns with spacious textures and solo lines. The compositions are well executed and attractive, due…
Release data: The Roswell Incident – The Crash CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The Rosswell Incident (named after the UFO incident in the ‘40 in the USA) is a project by the brothers Koen and Jan Buytaert, both hailing from Belgium. “The Crash”, recorded between 2000 and 2008 and 2008, contains three long tracks in Berliner School style to which elements…
Release data: Picture Palace Music – Midsummer CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 All who attended the band’s concert at “E-Live 2010” could hear a good portion of this album, which was played enthusiastically, very loud and in high-rocking mode. At that occasion, Thorsten Quaeschning & co. pulled off some electronic post-rock with a catchy bite, in which powerful drums and fierce…
Release data: Peter Mergener – Phonetic Society CD, Prudence/Cue Records, 2010 Over a decade or so ago, I lost interest in the music of this sympathetic and skilled German musician, as his output had become far too cheesy and uninspired in my opinion. So what a happy surprise to see Mr Mergener successfully return to his personal artistic roots on…
Release data: False Mirror – Derelict World CD, Malignant Records, 2010 False Mirror is a project of the German composer Tobias Hornberger, of which “Derelict World” is the third album. The album is of a highly ambient-drone nature, bringing to life the destructive side of natural things that surround us each and every day. Moreover its dark-oriented, but the overall…
Release data: Nattefrost – Dying Sun / Scarlet Moon CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 The fine electronics Bjørn Jeppesen aka Nattefrost presents on “Dying Sun/Scarlet Moon” album are of a groovy but also spatial nature. The album offers a nice assemblage of attractive sequencer patterns, contemporary sounds and textures, all glued together into catchy instrumental compositions which set things in motion…
Release data: Robert Schroeder – Cream CD, Spheric Music, 2010 The music of “Cream” sees Robert Schroeder return to the musical style he was popular for in the early ‘80’s, and blending it with fresh contemporary electronic sounds. Their’s a pleasant mellowness lying over the six tracks, nicely kicked off by the almost 14-minute “Magnetics” which features elevating and warm…
Release data: Airsculpture – Before the Moon CD, Ricochet Dream, 2010 “Before the Moon” is a limited edition, factory-pressed digipack cd-release, previously released as a double cd-r in 2006, offering some fully improvised Berliner School-inspired space music by the legendary UK-trio. The outcome on this re-release features four lengthy pieces, recorded live in concert during AirSculpture’s performance as part of…
Release data: Rainbow Serpent – Stranger CD, Manikin Records, 2010 With the long awaited album “Stranger”, the German duo Gerd Wienekamp and Frank Specht has delivered an outstanding album of contemporary and vibrant electronic music which I’m sure will be welcomed by a large audience. For the musicians, making “Stranger” also proved to be new and difficult, as they decided…
Release data: MorPheuSz – Days of Delerium & Nocturnal Nightmares (Chapter One) CD, Groove Unlimited, 2010 MorPheuSz is the Dutch/German music collective Ron Boots, Eric and Harold van der Heijden and Frank Dorittke (aka FD Project). “Days of Delerium & Nocturnal Nightmares” for me again proves what a great combination Ron Boots and Eric van der Heijden still are, as…
Release data: Mark Jenkins – iPaDream CD-R, Private Release, 2010 With “iPaDream”, London-based musician Mark Jenkins released a full electronic music album created entirely on a 64GB 3G Apple iPad. Those who saw him perform on E-Live 2010 saw him use this portable live music setup with its numerous touch abilities. Furthermore, this small performance system offers the ability to…
Release data: Amongst Myselves – Fragments CD, Private Release, 2010 Previous to the release of “Fragments”, Steve Roberts aka Amongst Myselves did a good portion of experimentation with his synths, e-guitars and electronics between March 2008 and April 2010 with crossing over different elements from various tracks in order to create new pieces of music. Eventually, “Fragments” became the outcome,…
Release data: Matthew Florianz – Koude Handen CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Koude Handen”, recorded in December and January of 2009/2010, sees Dutch composer Matthew Florianz continue on the sonic path of atmospheric landscape ambient as explored on his album “Maalbeek”. Mr Florianz once again used his trusted Korg X5d synthesizer, of which he blended the calming, spacious textures with environmental…
Release data: David Parsons – Akash CD, Celestial Harmonies, 2010 With “Akash” (meaning sky or ether in the Sanskrit language), New-Zealand based musician David Parsons returns to highly spherical and overall quiet sound worlds, trying to evoke “an expansive sky-like atmosphere” on the five long tracks. Using an array of self-programmed sound pads made with oscillators and filters, David follows…
Release data: Dave Bessell – Analogue CD, Manor Records, 2010 “Analogue” is the debut release by Dave Bessell (one of the four members of he legendary band Node), made almost 15 years after the band’s initial and same-titled recording. For the recording of the music, Dave deliberately limited himself to the use of one instrument, the Macbeth M5n semi modular,…
Release data: Mathias Grassow & Tomas Weiss – Farewell – In Hommage To Klaus Wiese CD, Musical Philosophy, 2010 “Farewell” is a tribute and dedication to the German ambient musician Klaus Wiese, a former member of Popol Vuh who sadly died in 2009. The album was originally released as limited edition of only 100 copies, which included a special numbered…
Release data: Dan Pound – Wolf Moon CD-R, Private Release, 2010 The album “Wolf Moon” sees independent electronic musician Dan Pound more or less “recycling” his trade of shamanically infused ambient electronic space music as we know it from his previous releases. It ranges from powerful to reflective outings, reaching out for introspective spaces while an assortment of tribal bits…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Indefinite Duration CD-R, Private Release, 2010 On “Indefinite Duration”, Mr Challoner continues the path of slow flowing textural music as explored on his previous releases. The almost 80-minute album offers an uninterrupted sonic canvas of soothing and serene ambient/space music to calm the mind. It’s great backdrop music that’s also very suitable as a sleeping…
Release data: The Icarus Kid – The Icarus Kid CD, Electrowookie Records, 2010 The Icarus Kid is an electronic dance music act initiated by Seattle-based musician Dan Crowdus, who cites his major musical influence has been Nobuo Uematsu, the composer of the Final Fantasy video game series. The live electronic music project The Icarus Project actually brings the classic sounds…
Release data: Michael Neil – Between Sleeping and Waking CD-R, Private Release, 2010 “Between Sleeping and Waking” is a highly atmospheric deep ambient album by Michel Neil, making it his most quiet of all his releases. The release will also be his last for a quite a while, as other challenges blink on the horizon. The music actually put Michael…
Release data: Peter Challoner – Ambient Archive CD-R, Private Release, 2010 Ambient music fans who haven’t had the chance to investigate the output of the talented musician Peter Challoner now have a great opportunity with the double album “Ambient Archive”. It’s a fine release offering more than two hours of free floating textural music, featuring six lengthy tracks. The release…
Release data: Robert Beau Michaels – Dance of Ecstasy – Dance Music to free the spirit CD-R, Private Release, 2010 As the title already suggest, Robert Beau Michaels turns up the rhythmic alley with this release. Busy and rather heavy drumming open “Invitation to the Dance”, followed by warm, melodic and floating sound pads. The latter also make up “Dance…
Release data: Walter Christian Rothe – Zebra DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 1989/2010 Due to the kind help of a friend Down Under, Walter Rothe’s album “Zebra” recently saw the light of day as a digital, but download-only release. That same person also did a lot of troubles incorporating the informative content of the original eight page cd-booklet into this new…
Release data: Michael Neil & Graham Getty – Retrochet CD-R/DIGITAL DOWNLOAD, Private Release, 2010 For this album, composers Michael Neil and Graham Getty used the latest collaborative opportunities the internet has to offer to assemble a fine synthesis of vintage electronic music with the help of nowadays modern technologies. Well, “Retrochet” is your ticket for a 60-minute trip in a…